Alumni in the News: May 13, 2024

On May 3, civil rights activist Clarence B. Jones ’53 was presented a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden. Jones helped draft the “I Have a Dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington in 1963.

Nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards were announced on April 30; Brandon Victor Dixon ’03 is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for Hell’s Kitchen. Based on the life of Alicia Keys, the show received a total of 13 nominations.

James Shapiro ’77 wrote an April 20 New York Times guest essay, “What Began As a War on Theater Won’t End There.” Shapiro is the Larry Miller Professor of English and Comparative Literature and the author of the forthcoming The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War.

On April 12 it was announced that William Shiyuan Wang ’55 is one of two esteemed scholars to receive the first Yuen Ren Chao Prize in Language Sciences. The prize, awarded by the humanities faculty of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, recognizes distinguished contributions to language science research. Wang is chair professor of language and cognitive sciences at HKPU and a professor emeritus of UC Berkeley.

Robert Reffkin ’00, BUS’03 will be awarded the University Medal for Excellence, it was announced on April 8. The medal is given each year to a distinguished alum; Reffkin is the founder and CEO of the real estate company Compass.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s Gina Shishima ’89 was named a recipient of the 2024 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award by the American Bar Association on April 1. The award recognizes women lawyers who carry forward the legacy of Margaret Brent, the first woman lawyer in the United States.

On March 25 it was announced that Lisette Camilo ’98 was featured on City & State New York’s list “The 2024 Above & Beyond: Women.” Camilo was lauded for her work as chief administrative officer at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority; in particular, how she spearheaded connections between the MTA and CUNY to recruit a new generation of NYC government workers.